Saturday, December 29, 2007

How Clean is Your House?

I love this show on the BBC. Kim and Aggie are two cleaning Mavens who find the filthiest houses in the UK and help the owners clean them up. They are also huge champions of green cleaning, which you all know I love.

It is always interesting to me to see why people have let their houses get as bad as they have. Some people have not cleaned for over 20 years! Whenever I watch that show, it always inspires me to clean up my own house.

For my own cleaning arsenal here is what I use:

Cotton cloths (flannel) for WindowsTerry Cloth for scrubbingVinegar and water in a 1/4 ratio with a drop or two of "washing up liquid" (handwashing dish soap- biodegrable of course)Homemade soap for scrubbing and germ killingBaking Soda for scouring and odor eliminationI also rinse my floors with vinegar water- just a splish into the wash bucket is fine. It lets the vinyl shine very nicely.

As for furniture I just wipe it down with a damp cloth. For unfinished furniture I use a homemade furniture polish made of vitamin E oil, Olive Oil, Beeswax and lavender essential oil.

If you want to make my homemade furniture polish just blend in enough of the liquid oils to make the beeswax soft and spreadable. It also makes an ultra nourishing hand lotion/diaper rash cream!

Today I cleaned up the mess from the holiday presents. I will be the first to admit that I get a bit lazy around the holidays. Today is a day for catching up though, for tomorrow I rest and Monday I go back to work!